Leftover Halloween Candy Bark

It’s now two days post-Halloween. All of the trick-or-treating has been completed. Pumpkin bowls and pillowcases dumped out onto the kitchen floor and the candy picked over. If you have kids, you’ve likely rationed out the candy so your kids aren’t on a sugar high until Thanksgiving. And there is still probably more candy left than you can ever imagine eating. Or maybe you’re just tired of staring at the same bowl of fun size candy bars at work, that no one is eating. This bark is now your best friend. It’s the answer to using up a ton of your leftover Halloween candy, and eating it in a fun, unusual way. Take it into work and share with your coworkers Halloween candy, reinvented. I guarantee it will be devoured and you’ll be a hero.

Mmm candy… I chopped my candy bars a little smaller than I would have liked. Still delicious, but next time I would make sure they were in bigger chunks (I have written the recipe to reflect larger pieces :)).

The awesome thing about this bark is that you can use it as a guide and mix and match whatever leftovers happen to be taking up space in your Halloween stash. The key, however (and this is important), is that you strike a good balance between sweet and salty. As you can imagine, this could wind up being way too sweet if you don’t play your cards right. The peanuts are great for balancing out the sweet candy, and you could even use pretzels as well. Just make sure you use bittersweet chocolate as your base to keep it from getting too sweet. Other than that, mix it up and see what you can come up with!

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

2. Place the chopped bittersweet chocolate in a medium bowl and microwave at 50% power in 30-second increments, stirring after each, until completely melted and smooth. Pour the chocolate onto the prepared baking sheet and, using an offset spatula, spread into a thin layer (about ¼-inch thick - a 12x10-inch rectangle). Sprinkle the melted chocolate with the chopped Butterfingers, Heath bars, peanut butter cups and honey roasted peanuts, making sure all pieces touch melted chocolate (so they adhere). Lightly press to make sure the candy adheres to the melted chocolate. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Melt the white chocolate using the same method as the bittersweet chocolate (in a microwave in intervals) until completely smooth. Using a spoon, drizzle the white chocolate over the chilled bark in a zigzag pattern. Scatter the M&M's (or Reese's Pieces) over the white chocolate drizzle, and again press to make sure the candy adheres to the melted white chocolate. Chill again until the white chocolate is set, about 30 minutes.

4. Cut/break the bark into irregular pieces and serve. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Love it! Funny, I’m going to the dentist today! My guess is she’ll tell me no more candy! AHHHHH!!! This bark looks so delish! What a great idea to give it a way!! I think I may do that!! That way the candy is out of my house!!

What a perfect way to use up candy. I didn’t have much leftover from the kiddos, but I bought a couple of bags yesterday on clearance. Once a year I get to totally pig out on candy, and I love it! Thanks for the idea!

That’s what I was thinking, can’t beat a good salty/sweet taste. Your idea was perfect though, because I bought a bunch of candy that was 50% off specifically so I could cook with it. Love experimenting and such.

Every year I want to take the leftover candy and make something with them, but they get gobbled up so fast!

Jessica, maybe you’ll have more luck than me ;( I went bright and early yesterday morning to my local CVS, Walgreens, RiteAid, Target (the list goes on…) and just about everyone was sold out of Halloween stuff! The retailers are moving so fast these days; Christmas products were already up, where the Halloween treats used to be!

This is perfect since we bought 2 huge bags of candy and only got 7 trick-or-treaters. So I think this will be my weekend project. Unfortunately I don’t think our leftover Sour Patch Kids would go well in this recipe… 😉